JEDDAH: King Abdul Aziz International Airport has begun opening its arrival halls to Umrah visitors as the seven-month pilgrimage season begins Friday with over one-and-a-half million pilgrims from across the world expected during the period. Fahd Abdullah, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation, said the new Jeddah airport, for which construction works have already begun, would be connected up to the planned train networks. “The Haj Terminal will have a train link to the new airport and from there to Makkah and Madina whereby pilgrims will be transported between the two holy cities,” Abdullah said. Work on the SR27.1 billion contract for construction of the new Jeddah airport is currently in its first phase, which includes projects for a passenger terminals complex, control towers, runways, support facilities, roads, tunnels, underpasses, infrastructure, private airline terminals and a control tower. The contract for the works was given to the Saudi Binladin Group and signed by Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General.
